Plant Equipment and Hire March 2020 | Page 25

IN CONVERSATION Does Dezzi refurbish equipment? Our factory focuses on manufacturing new. However, with longstanding customers we would consider, if requested, to refurbish equipment, but it depends on the amount of new orders that are currently in production in the factory. South African equipment manufacturers have to compete with big global international companies who usually have funding models to assist new entrants into the South African economy. What is your opinion on this, and how does Dezzi deal with these challenges? Does the company offer any assistance at all for new owners who doesn’t necessarily have the means to finance their fleet of equipment? Our answer to this was to launch our own in-house finance, Dezzi-Fin, where we are able to offer, not only new customers, but existing customers, financial packages at extremely competitive rates; whether it be one machine, a fleet, or a packaged deal. What effect, in your opinion, has the downturn in the economy had on the decision to hire or buy new or used equipment? In our experience, customers have opted for extended warranties, to enhance the life expectancy of their current fleet, which adds to our business as we get to maintain and sell more parts. There may be companies sourcing second-hand equipment, but they soon find out that maintaining second-hand equipment can be more expensive than to purchase new. www.equipmentandhire.co.za Why should companies purchase equipment from Dezzi? The brand and its owners have shown consistency in 24 years of manufacturing and 44 years in business. Once you have built a relationship with Dezzi, it is a long-lasting relationship. The directors have not changed in 24 years. A promise made 24 years’ ago will be kept today, as the end-users are dealing with the same people. They do not have to explain a challenge, or agreement, to new management every few years. The fact that Dezzi has kept its doors open for more than two decades is proof that the machines are ‘built Africa tough’, and even more so, the proof of the pudding is in the number of repeat orders that are placed to the factory every year. With proven components, backed by great after- market service, the machines have proved themselves in the most robust conditions, and deliver productivity at your fingertips. What unique feature does Dezzi equipment offer its potential clients? Our machines are ‘built Africa tough’ with minimum electronics, which leads to minimum breakdowns, and lower maintenance costs. We also offer a 5 000- hour warranty on any of our chassis, which is exclusive to the industry, and a 10 000- hour standard warranty on our tandem drives (to our knowledge this is a world first). Does Dezzi operate outside the borders of South Africa and if so, where? Do they see possible growth opportunities in the rest of Africa? We currently have dealers in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. We are in negotiations to expand our footprint into other neighbouring countries. Looking at our order book for 2020 there is enormous growth in sub-Saharan Africa. What can we expect from Dezzi in the future? How will the company remain relevant in a fast-changing world where more operations are looking at new technology, digitalisation and automation? We will always have our original customer base, that prefer the ‘built Africa tough’ machines, but due to customer demand, Dezzi formed a partnership with Cukurova Machine Industries from Turkey and have been importing the Dezzi-CMI backhoe loader since 2017. In 2020 we are boosting our product offering with 15t, 20t and 25t wheel loaders from CMI that will run alongside our Dezzi range so we can offer a product to each customers taste. We are partnering with Kato from Japan to offer excavators to our end- users in 2020 (the first units that landed at the end of 2019, have already been sold). The factory is running at capacity, and we realised that in order to answer customer needs, it is time to partner with OEMs, to offer a full earthmoving package. In order to grow the product offering, Dezzi partnered with Cukurova Machine Industries from Turkey in 2017. The Dezzi-CMI backhoe loader is fitted with a Perkins engine and ZF transmissions and axles offering 75kW. MARCH 2020 23